“BARKADA 64 is a 5 look collection that is centered around the repurposing of waste from both the fashion and fishing industry. It designs a system in which discards from a fishery in the designer’s hometown in Florida are then reused to create fish skin leather, hand-tanned on their Brooklyn apartment roof.
As the daughter of a fisherman, the designer, Aijalon, uses visceral memories of their childhood at the beach and time spent with their father to inspire the shape, colors, and philosophy of the collection. They look towards an idea instilled in their family at a young age:
That everything can be used at least one more time.
The collection creates conversation about how traditional handcraft and food waste can be seen as innovative and sustainable in a world full of wasted materials.
The accompanying fabrics are treated in the same philosophy, using only second-hand sourced textiles: Ripped, striped cotton bed sheets, seersucker from materials donations, vintage lace and scraps found in studios. They are then dyed with onion skins from friend’s kitchens and local grocery stores, or indigo from a professor’s old dye pot.
Striper, Mahi, and Halibut fish skin discards from the fishery, Southern Provisions (Florida), are tanned using egg yolk waste from their thesis professor’s baking. The skins are laid to dry on Aijalon’s roof in Brooklyn, stapled down to a wooden pallet that they found on the side of the road.”
Thank you to my friends and amazing team:
Photo
@salemdyroff
Hair and Makeup
@zoey_august
Hand Sewing and Detail Assist
@hellobeerj @micahwong
Talent
@jobear.exe @trinityekopan @rainism_m @zoebeenicer @darciepu8
Transport and BTS
@zacharyzahn_ @lucashusu
Equipment Assist
@wilnycx_
All textiles in BARKADA 64 were secondhand sourced, donated, or a waste product of the fishing industry.
